By 1-21-12 10% of US chemical weapons stockpile remains

Wednesday January 18, 2012 marked the final destruction of the mustard agent filled projectiles stored at the Deseret Chemical Depot; to be destroyed by incineration. The remaining stockpile of Lewisite, a vesicant/blister agent, is slated for liquid incineration on Saturday 1-21-12.

The US declared, in 1985, a stockpile of 31,500 tons of chemical weapons. The mission to destroy the US chemical stockpile has been a 16 year $3 billion mission. After the liquid incineration of the Lewisite on Saturday, the Government declares that only 10% of the originally declared 31,500 tons will remain. The remaining 10% is awaiting destruction, with no completion date set.

Destruction of 90% of the US chemical weapon stockpile by Saturday January 21, 2012 meets the required deadline for the treaty deadline of April 29, 2012 laid out by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). The OPCW established in 1997 is an autonomous international organization that works with the UN and oversees the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). The CWC’s mission “aim to eliminate an entire category of weapons of mass destruction by prohibiting the development, production, acquisition, stockpiling, retention, transfer or use of chemical weapons by States Parties.”

6 States remain that have neither signed nor or acceded to the Chemical Weapons Convention. They are:

Angola, Egypt, North Korea, Somalia, South Sudan, and Syria.

Israel and Myanmar have signed but have not yet ratified the CWC.

The remaining 10% of the US chemical weapon stockpile await final destruction in Bluegrass Kentucky and Pueblo Colorado.

By, Charity Maness